Essay Sample on Bullying in the Workplace: Recognizing the Subtle Signs

Introduction

Workplace bullying often involves targeted behavior that happens at work and is always harmful; it is seen as physical acts or verbal comments that have the potential of mentally hurting or isolate an employee in the workplace. It forms a pattern that tends to be directed at a few people in the form of intimidation, degrading, or humiliating a person. Bullying is a workplace issue that is always difficult to identify because a fine line exists between strong management and bullying, and hence there is no way to predict who the bully is or who the target is in the workplace. The effects of workplace bullying are, however, easily visible and impact different aspects of an employee as well as the organization as a whole.

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Forms and Effects of Workplace Bullying

Many forms of bullying exist in the workplace, and these can involve verbal or those related to work performance, such as taking credit for ideas. Bullying has a different and serious effect on both the physical as well as the mental health of the victims, and this encompasses feelings of being anxious before work or anytime when the victim thinks of work, other physical symptoms of bullying which may arise from the anxiety include high blood pressure and digestive issues. These physical effects inclusive of lack of quality sleep affect the victims of workplace bullying on a personal level. On the other hand, the psychological effects of workplace bullying include low self-esteem on a personal and professional level; also, self-doubt is a major effect because the victim wonders if they imagine bullying that is actually not happening. Other effects of workplace bullying, such as losing interest in things the victim previously enjoyed, could lead to reduced performance for the affected employee (Sansone, 2015). Moreover, victims experience an increased sense of vulnerability, which causes a loss of confidence, and all these directly affect the morale and productivity of the employees who are victims of workplace bullying.

Negative Consequences for Employees and Organizations

Organizations that exhibit high rates of workplace bullying may often experience negative consequences of bullying, such as decreased productivity and morale among the employees, poor team dynamics as well as reduced employee absence from work and low trust, loyalty, and effort from the employees who are victims of bullying. In addition, financial losses that result from the legal costs incurred in investigations involving workplace bullying may negatively affect the finances and profits of the organization. People who bully eventually face the consequences for their actions, and such consequences may include transfers or loss of jobs, and this can impact an organization because good and productive employees may be lost if they were the bullies. Organizations have a vital role to play in mitigating or completely eradicating workplace bullying within their organizations.

Severe Effects on Corporate Image and Customer Confidence

More severe effects of workplace bullying touch on reduced corporate image and customer confidence because of a lack of energy and engagement among the bullied employees who feel anxious during work. The practice of bullying that relates in detail to the workplace bullying witnessed involves a male employee who enjoyed belittling a female colleague's opinion constantly and persistently hence creating a feeling of uselessness within the female coworker (Valentine, 2018). It led to the point where the female employee always felt anxious and uncomfortable around the bully and could not even give her point of view on different matters that required her input. Secondly, some employees have the habit of isolating a colleague socially and always taking credit for ideas that belong to the colleague being bullied. It happened to a point whereby the physical signs of bullying were noticeable, signs such as the victim becoming quite and leaving the room when the bully enters the same room.

Techniques to Address Workplace Bullying

Bullying is a serious issue in the workplace, and even though many organizations have zero-tolerance policies for bullying, it is hard to identify and prove workplace bullying, and this can make it difficult for the management to take action. However, several techniques can be implemented by the management to bring about a positive impact in the workplace. Such techniques include offering a confidential employee assistance program that allows those employees having personal problems such as bullying to come out in a confidential way and seek help (Gillen, 2017). It not only helps the management to find solutions to workplace bullying but also builds a positive rapport between employees and the management hence promoting trust and loyalty. Moreover, clearly defining what the organization means by workplace bullying can help create awareness on matters of bullying and enable employees to identify in concrete and precise language what workplace bullying entails and the negative consequences it has on both employees and the entire organization. It helps potential victims to know that bullying exists and can affect anyone, but they also get to know that it is a solvable issue.

Conclusion

In summary, workplace bullying creates an unhealthy working environment that ends up affecting the productivity and performance of the entire organization. If the cases of bullying are not appropriately tackled and managed, they become severe and affect both the physical and mental health of the victims while the bully continues to cause stress to more colleagues negatively. Workplace bullying comes in various forms, and the management should be able to identify and mitigate the consequences of workplace bullying to ensure that their employees are provided with a good environment for work and interaction with fellow workers.

References

Gillen, P. A., Sinclair, M., Kernohan, W. G., Begley, C. M., & Luyben, A. G. (2017). Interventions for the prevention of bullying in the workplace. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (1).

Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2015). Workplace bullying: a tale of adverse consequences. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 12(1-2), 32.

Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G. (2018). From the schoolyard to the workplace: The impact of bullying on sales and business employees' Machiavellianism, job satisfaction, and perceived importance of an ethical issue. Human Resource Management, 57(1), 293-305.